RPOlosophy

Growing up, I was a Soupy “Milton Supman” Sales fan. I distinctly remember Lunch with Soupy Sales; a series of comedy sketches frequently ending with Sales receiving a pie in the face, which became his trademark. Some of you might remember him for the revival of What’s My Line where he was a panelist alongside such notables as Arlene Francis, Bert Convy, and Nipsey Russell.

So on October 22nd when Soupy Sales died, I decided to fully read his obituary.

Most of the information about the life and times of Soupy Sales was either familiar or routine.

However, the following really struck me as odd. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m currently reading the new Dan Brown book, The Lost Symbol, and something outrageous occurred to me. It happened when I was reading the about Freemasons, The Great Seal, and the number 13. It was almost as if I was Robert Langdon and I had just deciphered an encrypted code.

With certainty and clarity, I instantly saw the connections between the Freemasons and HRO Today.  Undoubtedly, the RPO Bakers Dozen is analogous to The Great Seal. It can’t be coincidence that 13 Recruitment Process Outsourcing Firms were selected; just as it is no accident that The Great Seal has 13 stars in the crest, 13 stripes in the shield, 13 olive leaves, 13 olives, 13 arrows, 13 feathers on each arrow, 13 letters in E Pluribus Unum, 13 letters in Annuit Coeptis, 13 elements in a pyramid, and 13 levels in the pyramid. Also, did you know that there are 13 letters in “RPO Summit 2009″ and that the upcoming annual HRO/RPO event in NYC is on April 13th 2010?

I began to to see all the possibilities.  Read the rest of this entry »

As a father of 3 boys, I really appreciate moderation especially when it has to do with sporting events and restricting alcohol sales. Other than our team losing, nothing can ruin a baseball or football game more than an obnoxious or belligerent drunk (or two) in close proximity to my family.

Elliot, Samuel, & Aaron

And it is not just me who feels this way so do my boys. Several weeks ago at the Packers Bears game, my son Elliot told me he was totally bugged by the slobbering, intoxicated fool in front of us. He said: “Dad, I much prefer the Badger (University of Wisconsin) game. The fans are so much more normal.” Well, actually I’m not sure his assessment is correct, but I do know that they don’t sell alcohol at those games. Coincidence, I think not.

Since this is a topic of interest and top of mind, I decide to pursue reading an article about curbing excessive drinking at Australian sporting events. In fact, the article was about a specific 3 day auto race (the Bathurst 1000) where spectators were limited to a “slab of beer” per day.  Good, I thought, keep those fans in line. Make sure people have some semblance of control.  And then I saw it; a slab of beer is the equivalent to 24 beers, a full case! They call this moderation! I was dumbfounded. Read the rest of this entry »

Pinstripe’s Anne Bucher, back from a Global Resourcing Workshop in London, discusses an RPO technique of implementing talent acquisition and management into recruiting departments.

So hopefully you’re all familiar with the Nobel Prize.

Every year since 1901 the Nobel Prize has been awarded for achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and for peace. Each prize consists of a medal, personal diploma, and a cash award. Also, I did some research on Alfred Nobel. His life story is fascinating…. scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, author and pacifist. Actually, he is the pacifist who invented dynamite. Odd twist.

With the awards being announced this week, culminating on Friday, October 9th with the Nobel Peace Prize (I’m routing for underdog, folk singer Pete Seeger), I wondered who would win the Nobel RPO Prize for 2009.

As I thought about some of the qualifiers for this award, I considered whether I should pick an individual or an organization.  I decided to only consider those RPO companies whose key executive is synonymous with their company and brand. Therefore to qualify, the company and the executive must be inseparable from one another.

Like the actual Nobel Prize, the award is not related to size. Instead the award is about impact and making a difference. Specifically, the winner must have “gone above and beyond” in 2009 by being an industry influencer, innovator, advocate, and ambassador. The winner must be consistently giving back to the RPO industry to qualify.

So who is the 2009 Nobel Prize for Recruitment Process Outsourcing winner? Read the rest of this entry »

Back in February of this year, I wrote Where a RPO firm “comes from” defines what and how they deliver. I hypothesized that most companies cannot escape their heritage. I analyzed pure plays, like Pinstripe, and other RPOs from the staffing, technology, and recruitment marketing industries. I concluded, in a somewhat pathetic way, that sometimes this can be a distinct advantage and sometimes not so much.

However, the other day, I saw a chart of the large food giants and the organic brands they own.

• Cascadian Farms is part of General Mills,
• Horizon is owned by Dean Food,
• Seeds of Change is a member of the M&M Mars family,
• Odwalla is part of Coca-Cola,
• And Boca Foods is a division of Kraft

At first this shocked me. In my naïve Whole Foods mentality, I just assumed most of these organic foods companies were entrepreneurial, pesticide/hormone free, tie-dye wearing free spirits. It never occurred to me that most of them were really owned by the established food giants and part of the NYSE.

Second and more importantly, this got me to thinking about the impact of acquisitions in the Recruitment Process Outsourcing industry. I began to wonder if a company could retain their heritage after an acquisition. And while I won’t regurgitate all the recent acquisitions in RPO (we all know the players and transactions), I will ask the most basic question: Read the rest of this entry »

As a loyal Green Bay Packers fan, the exodus of Brett Favre left a bad taste in many fans mouths as he went to the New York Jets last year.  I, like a lot of fans, was on the side of Brett and not Packers management and understood his desire to play again.  I even went out and bought a Jets T-shirt with Favre #4 on the back in support of his decision even though I could care less about the Jets.  He played the season and had good games, but more bad and then retired again.  I was happy that the saga was finally over, he would stay in my good graces…so I thought.

That support of him changed last month when he decided to come back again, but this time with the much hated Vikings.    Most Packers fans now do not support him and frankly, can’t stand to even listen to him anymore.  As the weeks have gone by since his decision to return and I’ve had time to cool down, I started to think about this a little more holistically.  The question in my head is “Is it good for the game”.  Sure, he’s lied to everyone multiple times and many fans will never forgive him, but while turning off the state of Wisconsin, he’s completely energized the state of Minnesota.   This adds so much more to an already heated rivalry, and makes NFL football that much better.

This situation made me think of the Recruitment Process Outsource (RPO) industry Read the rest of this entry »